Big win puts Forbes on Superior Court

PORT ORCHARD — Lawyer and local bar president Jennifer Forbes held off a challenge from Bainbridge Island attorney Karen Klein to win the only contested seat on the Kitsap County Superior Court bench this year.

Forbes, 41, won 42,087 votes, taking about two of every three votes cast, according to early returns Tuesday night.

"It's still just sinking in, but it means the world to me," Forbes said of the result. "My husband (Rob) and I, those who've supported me, we've put so much into this. It means everything."

In her legal career, Forbes spent years as a Kitsap County deputy prosecutor before joining a Tacoma firm mostly handling civil law cases. Recently, she focused on spending time working as a substitute, or pro tem, judge.

"Our message all along has been experience, and our connection with the community," Forbes said. "The people who've supported me — there is absolutely no way I could be in this position without their help."

She held off Klein, 54, currently CEO of Silver Planet Inc., a health resource for seniors, following a long legal career. Klein acknowledged Tuesday night that the vote was not in her favor but wanted to wait for the final result to come in.

"I'm very honored by all the supporters I've had," Klein said of her campaign. "I've met a lot of wonderful people in the community."

Forbes said she had "immense respect" for Klein for how hard she worked throughout the race.

Forbes dominated the four-candidate primary in August, receiving just shy of the 50 percent needed to forgo a fall election. But Klein held with close to 20 percent of the vote, earning her a place in the vote-rich general election.

The race had a few controversies. There was a dispute over how much Klein had been a pro tem judge during her career (Forbes said she's logged more than 1,000 hours; Klein said "hundreds" of hours). And in the race's final days, Forbes admitted she'd posted accusations against Klein on the Kitsap Sun's website without identifying herself.